Selfies, social media and self esteem

Across the globe more than a million selfies are taken every day and many are self-altered or retouched to present a picture perfect portrayal on social media. It’s a trend that’s troubling eating disorder support groups who say it’s vital people understand you can’t compare yourself to altered images.

Australia has been labelled the “selfie capital of the world”. According to Samsung, selfies made up 30 per cent of all photos taken by 18-24-year-olds in 2013.

A study, conducted by Opinium Research in 2013, asked 2,005 UK adults about their selfie habits. It found more than half of participants had taken a selfie, and 36 per cent admitted to touching up their selfie.

Skin tone was the most common alternation followed by eye colour/brightness, eye shape and size, a person’s figure and lips.

New apps to touch up your own images before posting them on social have soared in popularity since this survey in 2013.

Loren Byford, a psychologist with Eating Disorders Victoria says we live in an image saturated culture and are presented with dozens of images every day that have been digitally enhanced.

“The selfies that have been photo shopped [can] reflect an unattainable ideal that would involve an excessive amount of time, money, energy and in some cases, invasive medical procedures that carry a degree of risk,” she says. “Attempting to live up to the idea of the photo shopped selfie would likely involve obsession and disruption to the enjoyment of daily life.”